Reflector display device



jam, 24, T1955 K. M. HAZELROTH ETAL 73h74? REFLECTOR DISPLAY DEVICEFiled July 19, 1951 MMM/$47 147 TO/Q/VEYSO REFLncTon ntsrtav nnvicnKenneth Marshall Hazeiroth, Rivera, and Rudolf R. Diesen and JamesMelton, Los Angeles, Calif., assignors to R. R. Kellogg AdvertisingServices, inc., Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of aiifemiaApplication `luly 19, 1951, Serial No. 237,622 2 Claims. (Cl. 1lll-4%)This invention relates to display devices, and more particularly itrelates to a device for use in advertising bubbling beverages and forsimulating the bubbling normally associated with such beverages.

it is among the objects of this invention to provide a new and improvedbubbling display device for simulating the bubbling action of theadvertised beverage, and by such action to attract consumer attention tothe display.

Another object of the invention is the provision of new and improvedmeans for economically and attractively achieving the desired resultsherein described.

Other objects of the invention include provision of new and improvedrealistic appearing display means, and for continuously effecting adesired simulated bubbling, preferably so that the bubbles will appearto expand in size as they rise from the simulated bottom of a glass orother transparent container, to increase the spread of the bubbles asthey rise so that substantially the entire container will appear full ofthe bubbling effect; to provide new and improved economical anduniversally adaptable means for achieving a most realistic effect with aminimum of expense and labor; and to provide a novel association andcombination of the various elements to achieve a new and improved effectand a new and improved economy of method of production and structuralarrangement.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front View this invention.

Figure 2 is a top view thereof.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional View of a display device embodying ason a line 3-3 of Figure l.

Figure 4 is a plan sectional view as on a line 4 4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a preferred form of reflector useful in this invention.

Figure 6 is an optional form of such reflector useful in Vthisinvention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is shown a base 10,as of wood, integral with or secured to a frame portion 11, defining aslot 12 into which a vertical display sign or panel 13 is supported.

Mounted on the base 1), as simulating a surface of a table, bar, or thelike, is a transparent or translucent e. g. glass container 14,preferably of concave shape, as shown, but optionally of any desiredshape, as will appear. Said container is cut out at 15, and is formed onboth sides with slots 16 for the reception of the sign, display or panel13 upon which and over which the glass is designed to be suspended andto which it is designed to be secured as at its edges 17 thereadjacent,as by glue, plastic cement, or the like. In this connection, it shouldbe noted that the glass may be of plastic and may be integral, ifdesired, with said panel 13. Said panel 13 contains any desiredadvertising, and is preferably formed, at least in part with an opaquebackground through which transparent or translucent letters areilluminated through non- Sttes tent O by means of an electric lamp 1Sdisposed -in boxl 19, secured in any conventional manner to the backsideof the panel 13 at the base thereof and adjacent and behind the base 10.The panel 13, as will readily occur to those familiar with the art, canbe made of glass, plastic, or the like,` and painted to obtain opacityin the desired portions. One portion of the panel, however', i. e., thatimmediately behind the glass 14, is cut out or left transparent in thearea 2li corresponding to the bottom portion of the glass in order thatillumination from the lamp 1S may pass therethrough and illumine theinterior of the glass 14, thereby also rendering visible through saidglass Zlland said panel 13 a bubbling tube 22, of known construction,having a bulbous end 23 containing a fluid having a low boiling point,such as ether, Ztl, a gooseneck v25, and a stem 26 terminating, in asecondary bulb 27. The gooseneck portion of the bulb is painted black,ordinarily, so that heat from the lamp 18 causes the liquid 24 to bubbleand rise in the tube portion 26.

A redactor shield, of any sheet metal, such as tin, aluminum,chrome-plated material, or similarly shiny and reliective bodies offoil, or plastic, and the like, is cut preferably in the form of afrusta-conical mirrorlike ser:- tion 2S, c. f. Fig. 5, and may becontinuously curved, or formed with a plurality of' flutes formingflared facets 29, 39, 3l, and the like, as in Figure 6. Such reflectiveportions 23 (or optionally another form such as that of Fig.v 6) issecured as within the glass 14 by inserting the same axially into theglass with opposite side edges 32 and -33 positioned againstthe backsideof the panel 13, and with the bottom end portion 34 of the mirrorlikereflector ZSeXtending downwardly into the notched-out area 15 of theglass to complement the interior surface of the glass and complete thesame for optical purposes. It must be borne in mind, in this connection,that the section 2li of the panel corresponding to the notched-out area15fis transparent, so' thatthe' bubbles 35 in the tube are visible atthe front side of the display from the bottom ofthe glass upwardly ashigh as desired, for example, to a simulated foamline for beer 36.

A staple, or wire 37 holds the bubbling tube 26, the reflector 28, andthe glass 14 in assembled relationship by means of openings 39 anditl-in the latter two respectively. ln this position the bulb 27 ishidden above the foamline 36, the upper portion of the glass beingfrosted-as at 4l, and optionally surmounted as by a chalklike cap 42.The bottom of the apparatus, is hidden behind the lower end of thereflector which projects below the visible interior of the glass.

In operatiomthe electric lamp 18 is illuminated, which illuminates theinterior of the glass,particularly through the ltube 26 at the open end43 ofthe reflector'. The light thus entering the glass is subdued andlimited so that the interior of the glass is illuminated to a desiredoptimum extent, which may be increased if desired by cutting away aportion of the reflector at 44 adjacent the back of the panel 13. Thelight travels up the tube, however, and gives desired illumination tothe bubbles, which is accentuated by the reflector.

As the bubbles rise in the tube, they appear to originate in the bottomof the glass when viewed from the front, as in Figure l. Moreover, thecurved surface of the reflector 28, or, optionally, the individualfacets 29, 30, 31, and the like, of the form of reflector of Figure 6,magnifies 4the bubbles and appears to spread them over the interior ofthe glass, so that they move outwardly and upwardly as well as directlyupwardly in the tube their apparent size being progressively magnifiedduring such ascent by the upwardly tapered reflective magnifying surfaceof the recctor so far as the observer is concerned.

opaque portions thereof lt is important in this connection to note thatat the bottom of the glass, the tube is directly against the retlector34. This fact, plus the limited dimensions of the base of thisparticular shape of glass, i. e., conica appears to give the bubbles arelatively closely compacted common origin at or in the stem of theglass, but as the tube rises, the expanded end 27 thereof engages thereflector in such a manner that such upper end of the tube is spacedforwardly from the reflector a greater distance at the upper end of saidtube than at the lower end thereof. The tube thus diverges upwardly andoutwardly away from the reector, tending to increase magnification ofthe size of the ascending bubbles to the eye of the observer and causingthe centers of adjacent bubbles to appear relatively further separatedfrom one another as they rise in the tube. If the bubbles were notmultiplied by the rellector, or merely rose in straight parallel rows orif the reflector were not angulated or tilted forwardly relative to thereflector, such increasing magnification and relative spreading of thecenters of the bubbles would not occur as desired. There is an optimumdistance, depending on the curvature of the reilector, at which themaximum spreading of the bubbles at the top occurs. Once this isascertained for any given application, the upper end 27 of the tube maybe bent, or other- Wise shimmed, relative to the reflector, to create anoptimum eiect corresponding to the degree of divergence of the bubblesrequired in glasses of varying ared proportions.

The use of the instant device is not conned to glasses of the characterherein described, but may be applied to gobiets or glasses of any shapeor description. In order to create the illusion of dispersion of thebubbles over the entire interior surface of the container, the distancebetween the bubbling tube and the reector need merely be adjusted at thetop and the bottom to create the illusion of dispersion over the entirebottom area if the container be substantially cylindrical, anddivergently outwardly toward the other side if the same be conical, asshown.

Many variations of the instant device will readily occur to one havingknowledge of the disclosure herein. Thus, by way of example, but not oflimitation, the reilector 28 may be wholly or partially painted on theinterior or exterior surfaces thereof. Or the display may be connedmerely to the upper portion thereof, above the notch 15. The tube may berendered integral as a manufactured part of the display container, andso on. These innovations, while generally limiting the effectiveness ofthe display and increasing the cost of manufacture thereof, willnevertheless serve. Where the device is intended to advertise beer, thecontainer should of course be tinted to give a beer color. This tintingwill also tend to conceal any structure which otherwise might berendered more clearly visible in a colorless container.

Although we have herein shown and described our invention in what wehave conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it isrecognized that departures may be made therefrom, within the vscope ofour invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosedherein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as toembrace any and all equivalent structures and devices.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. A display device comprising a vertically elongated transparentchamber simulating a liquid container, an enclosed bubbling tubecontaining a low-boiling liquid and having an eiongated stem thereofpositioned inside the chamber adjacent an inside wall thereof with theupper portion of the stern spaced farther from the wall than the lowerportion, a lower bulb thereof adjacent the lower end of the chamber andan upper bulb thereof adjacent the upper end of the chamber, a generallyconcave elongated inverted cone-shaped reflector positioned intermediatethe stem and an inside wall of the chamber with the face thereofadjacent the stem for reflecting images of bubbles passing through thestem into the interior of the chamber, and a source of heat and lightadjacent the bulb for forming gas bubbles in the bubbling tube and fortransmitting light into the tube for internal transmission andreiiection through the stem thereof.

2. A display device comprising a transparent chamber having the generalshape of an inverted cone and simulat- I ing a glass of effervescentbeverage, an enclosed bubbling tube containing a low-boiling liquid andhaving an elongated stem thereof positioned inside the chamber adjacentan inside wall thereof with the upper portion of the stern spacedfarther from the wall then a lower portion thereof, a lower bulb thereofadjacent the lower end of the chamber, an elongated reflector surface ofcurvature substantially coinciding with that of the inside wall of thechamber positioned intermediate the stem and the inside wall of thechamber with the face thereof adjacent the stem for reflecting images ofbubbles passing through the stern into the interior of the chamber, andan electric light and heat source adjacent the bulb for forming gasbubbles in the bubbling tube and for transmitting light into the tubefor internal transmission and reection through the stem thereof.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 718.496Meagher Jan. 13, 1903 888,569 Zarella May 26, 1908 1,068,875 FieldingJuly 29, 1913 1,807,966 Corcoran June 2, 1931 1,816,524 Gossart July 28,1931 1,895,773 Scheprnoes Jan. 31, 1933 2,041,135 Kaufman May 19, 19362,288,956 Rosenkoetter July 7, 1942 2,383,941 Otis Sept. 4, 1945

